Chapter 10: A Change

The light faded as the warehouse's main room came into view. It was strangely dark. That didn't matter to Samantha, however. She was still beaming. The computer repeated their names. "Cardinal. B24." Cardinal. The name sounded so…awesome. Of course, it was reminiscent to back when Nightwing was once Robin. That fact was a little hard to ignore. The B24 had changed from the A13- signaling a change in authorization from guest, to team member. "I love the name," she began as they stepped out of the Zeta Tube. Samantha began to speak again when the lights flashed on. Everyone jumped from every corner of the room, shouting, "Surprise!"

A banner floated from the ceiling bearing the word, "Congratulations!" Samantha's cheeks blushed. Everyone was there- M'gann, Connor, Impulse, Lagoon Boy, Robin, Blue Beetle, Wonder Girl, and Batgirl. M'gann was the first to approach her. "I knew you'd make it, Sam!" she said and gave her a hug which she returned warmly. "Thank you." Nightwing smiled from behind her and gave a nudge to join in on the festivities. A huge stack of pizzas sat in the middle of the table alongside the ice cooler filled to the brim with water and even sodas- which were rare when Nightwing was in charge of things. Everyone was beginning to dig into the food and talk about how awesomely she had done on her final test. "How did you guys see?" Samantha asked curiously as she placed a few slices of pizza on her plate. "Satellite feed! We all watched it from the warehouse! It was crash!" Impulse piped up. She blushed again and grabbed a Dr. Pepper to go along with her food. She cracked the soda open and let the fizzy pop cool down her throat. It had been so long since she had drunk a soda. The remembrance of drinking Reach soda had left a sour thought in her mind.

The night flew by with tons of junk food, showing off a few fire tricks (as well as her new cooling cuffs), and playing the PlayStation 3 Blue Beetle had brought over to the warehouse. She wasn't very good at playing the war-like games the boys enjoyed (Connor and Jaime were excellent at them, and showed no mercy when playing against her in multiplayer), and switched the game later on to something more her type- puzzles. Nightwing joined in with her and Batgirl to play multiple games that made Connor and Jaime smack their foreheads. The entire gang had a blast. Samantha had never seen Nightwing so relaxed before- nor laugh as much. Her sides had hurt by the end of the night.

"Alright, I'd better be getting home," Jaime piped up. Others followed suit. M'gann revealed that her and La'gaan were heading to Chicago to stay in her uncle's apartment. Nightwing wished everyone a safe night and one by one they disappeared through the Zeta Tube. As usual, it was just Nightwing and Samantha now. The teenage girl was curled up on the couch, exhausted, as Nightwing took a seat next to her. "Have fun?" She smiled. "More fun than I've had in weeks."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Nightwing said with an arched brow. "Training with me isn't fun?" She shook her head. "It's not that- I just needed a good gaming session." He laughed softly and turned to her. "So you really like the name?" "Of course I do."

The two remained silent for a few minutes. Samantha decided now was a better time than never to ask a question that she had been wondering about since the first day of training.

"I know…that Batman makes you keep your identity a secret," Samantha began. Nightwing quickly focused his attention on her. "But I can't help getting the feeling that I've known you longer than the two months I've been here. You remind me of someone very special." She swallowed hard, waiting for a response from him. "Do you remember his name?" She shook her head. "Grayson. That's all I remember."

Nightwing's heart sped up. She did remember.

"We went to school together for years. He was my best friend. He had to move away for some reason though, and I can't remember his damn name. I feel so stupid." Samantha looked down and put her hands on her face. An idea popped into her mind- something that she hadn't thought of. "Where did you go to school, Nightwing? Was it Gotham Academy?" A mental image of the GA yearbook appeared.

He panicked. Why was he feeling so nervous? It was just Samantha…someone he'd known for years- she girl he had trained to the point that she would rival him- the little shy girl that had grown into something fierce- the first girl he had fallen for… He shook the thought off.

"That's classified," Nightwing said quickly. "More like, that means 'yes'," Samantha replied with a smile. Nightwing couldn't help but smile in return. "No, that doesn't mean 'yes'." "On come on, Nightwing. Your face just now gave it all away. You have to be around my age then- 18? 19?"

"19," Nightwing replied. "Okay, no more questions. We really should get some rest-"

Samantha arched an eyebrow. She was dying to ask more questions- she felt like she was onto something here. Could it be possible that he had known her in school? Was that the incentive he needed to save her from the Reach? He was definitely hiding something… This was obvious when he stood to head back to his bed. As Nightwing walked off, Samantha stopped him.

"Can I just ask you one more thing…Please?"

Nightwing paused with his back turned towards her. He answered. "What?"

Samantha took a step forward. "Did you know me? Before all of this went down, I mean."

He paused. A million things ran through his head on what to say next.

"Ye-"

A loud voice interrupted him mid-word. The voice was coming from both of their earpieces, and it sounded like a distressed Lagoon Boy.

"Lagoon Boy to team- we're under attack at the Chicago Zeta-Tube- requesting backup!"

Nightwing nodded. "Acknowledged! We're right by a Zeta-Tube and on our way." Nightwing turned to Samantha. "Think you can handle this with me? I have no idea who's attacking, but I think you can handle it." Samantha's stomach turned nervously. A real mission? Now? With no notice? "Let's go!" she shouted.

The pair ran to the Zeta-Tube and Nightwing punched in Chicago's Zeta Tube address. The pair stepped in and were instantly transported to their teammate's location.

They exited the tube running- only to see an injured Lagoon Boy lying amongst crates, a ring of flames, and a strange black ship flying away. Nightwing swore. "They were too fast."

((Woooo hope you enjoyed this chapter! :D More to come tomorrow.

-Opaque Sky))